The ERIC Thesaurus
When searching the ERIC database, one useful technique is to start with
a keyword search and then look at the results to identify additional potential
keywords from the terms listed in the Descriptor (DE) field. These descriptors
terms come from the ERIC Thesaurus -- a collection of 'controlled vocabulary'
or standardized search terms that are used throughout the database. This is
similar to the Yellow Pages in a phone book (i.e. Doctors, See Also Physicians).
Using controlled vocabulary will improve the comprehensiveness and completeness
of a search. For example, searching with the thesaurus/descriptor term 'adolescents'
ensures the retrieval of relevant articles that also used the word 'teenagers'.
The ERIC Thesaurus can be helpful in the following situations:
- When you want to identify synonyms for a particular keyword or search
term
- When you want to plan your search strategy prior to searching the database
When identifying search terms:
- Divide your research topic into its separate components. For example, if
you were researching English as a Second Language (ESL) among Latino high
school students, there would be three components to this topic: ESL, Latinos,
and high school.
- Use the Thesaurus to identify various possible search terms for each of
the three components, as shown in table below.
- Plan various searches that combine terms from each of the components, connected
with the word AND [i.e. English (Second Language) and Latinos and
High Schools].
|
Initial Terms
|
Additional Terms
|
| English as a Second Language |
English (Second Language); Second Language Instruction;
Second Language Programs; Bilingual Education |
| Latinos |
Hispanic Americans; Latin Americans; Spanish Speaking |
| High school |
High Schools; High School Students; Grade 9
[Or 10 Or 11 Or 12] |
When planning a search in the field of education, it can be particularly
helpful to specify what age group you are researching - this will increase
the relevancy of your search results. As indicated in the above example, you
can specify a particular grade level in your search. If you are doing research
pertaining to higher education, for example, it will be very useful to include
the Thesaurus term "Higher Education" in your search strategy.
Another name for the Descriptor field in ERIC is the Subject field. You
can limit your search to specific thesaurus terms that appear in the Subject
field, which will increase the relevance of your search results. This is different
than a Keyword search, which looks for terms in every field of a record (Author
field, Title field, Source field, etc.).
Librarian Contact Information
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